VATICAN (SE): The Vatican sponsored its first Women Consultation Group to coincide with International Women’s Day on March 8. The first gathering was made up of 37 women from a variety of fields including medicine, journalism, theology and politics, among others.

HONG KONG (SE): More than 1,000 people from migrant rights and student groups called for an end to all forms of violence against women at the One Billion Rising campaign held at Edinburgh Place, Central, on February 21.

The campaign aims to have one billion women worldwide dancing in the street on or around Valentine’s Day in a call for fair and just treatment of women.

COLOMBO (UCAN): The authorities in Sri Lanka are being put under more pressure to act on sexual violence against women and children from all quarters of society with the kidnap of a five-year-old girl in the western part of the island nation on September 11.

On September 18, Mothers and Daughters of Lanka demonstrated in the capital city of Colombo demanding that the authorities implement laws to stop sexual violence against women and girls.

VATICAN CITY (CNS): “Women should be promoted,” said Pope Francis on May 16 during an audience with an international group of men and women religious working in the Diocese of Rome.

He said women can be appointed heads of some offices of the Roman Curia, but that will not be enough to “recover the role” women should have in the Catholic Church, pointing out that assigning a certain number of women to leadership positions is “simply functionalism.”

THRISSUR (Agencies): In the wake of the national outcry over the gang rape and death of a medical student and reports of rapes from across the country, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India called for “comprehensive laws and effective measures to ensure the security and safety of women,” according to Catholic News Service.